4. Patent Agent

Patent agents look at inventions and decide if they should be patented, prepare and file patent applications, and represent inventors in front of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

What's great: Dealing with new inventions means there's a lot of exposure to great ideas. "If something's not new, I don't need to know about it," said Dan Beinart, a patent agent in the Boston area. "I never have to get involved with the same thing twice." --Emily Jane Fox

Quality of life ratings:Personal satisfaction: A | Benefit to society: A | Low stress: A

Notes: All pay data from PayScale.com. Median pay is for an experienced worker (at least five or seven years in the field). Top pay represents the 90th percentile. Job growth is estimated for 2012-22, and based on people working in broader 'job family' from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more details, see How We Picked the Best Jobs.Sources: PayScale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and CNNMoney research